I often quip that if a student shows up at the Verizon Center and Lady Gaga’s concert is cancelled, they’re bummed.

If they show up for my class and see a sign that class is cancelled, they whoop and holler with glee.

And, on balance, most of them think my courses are better than the average academic offerings.

On a grander scale, many are predicting that high-priced colleges will be the next bubble to burst. Folks have been paying an increasing amount of money to get a decreasing amount of relevant learning. That’s not a good formula.

For example, reported in the NY Post: The journal Academic Questions recently concluded that … many new graduates are finding that the degree they’ve earned is not worth the investment.

Now, most college grads leave school with large debts — more than $27,000 on average.

A college degree also no longer signifies that the recipient is either well-educated in the traditional sense or that he has acquired specific skills suited to the labor market.

That’s despite the fact that “most colleges have become trade schools — far more expensive ones than their for-profit counterparts.”

By 2008, the number of bachelor’s degrees had risen to 1.5 million Americans, but few of these degrees were in the traditional liberal arts. Barely 2 percent of BAs were awarded in history and only 3.5 percent in English literature.

More than a third of undergraduate degrees are now earned in business, health professions and education.

The former president of St. John’s College in Santa Fe argues that it’s no wonder that students have fled the liberal arts:

For centuries, the liberal arts passed on what was best in Western civilization … despite our practical bent, youth were encouraged “to pursue inquiry into serious and perennial questions.”

The humanities in particular were considered the “Keepers of the Culture” at a time when we believed we had a culture worth keeping and passing on.

Since the 1960s, however, our culture has been under attack, our history rewritten as one of unmitigated oppression and the values our Founders and subsequent generations held dear reviled.

Humanities courses in liberal arts colleges have replaced the canon of Western civilization with course offerings … aimed to show our benighted past and to condition us to a more tolerant future.

Students have fled such courses in droves to pursue technical or professional skills.

The Post concludes: Their parents — and increasingly the students themselves, through loans — are left footing the bill for degrees that neither pay off in the marketplace nor enrich the intellectual lives of those on whom they are conferred.

Many pundits are predicting that high-priced colleges will be the next bubble to burst. Students (or their parents, or their companies) have been paying an increasing amount of money to get a decreasing amount of relevant learning. That’s not a good formula.

In their book Academically Adrift, authors Arum and Roksa … name all the key actors involved in higher education – parents, students, professors, administrators, and government funding agencies – and explain why, given the behavior of all the other actors, no one wants to do anything about high cost and “limited learning” at most universities.

They argue that limited learning on college campuses is not a crisis because the institutional actors implicated in the system are receiving the organizational outcomes they seek,

Parents – although somewhat disgruntled about increasing costs – want colleges to provide a safe environment where their children can mature, gain independence, and attain credentials that will help them be successful as adults.

Students – in general seek to enjoy the benefits of a full collegiate experience that is focused as much on social life as on academic pursuits, while earning high marks in their courses with relatively little investment of effort.

Professors – are eager to find time to concentrate on their scholarship and professional interests.

Administrators – have been asked to focus largely on external institutional rankings and the financial bottom line.

Government funding agencies – are primarily interested in the development of new scientific knowledge.

In other words, the system satisfies the needs of all the players … which explains why everybody seems satisfied with the status quo.

And, explains why there will be a loud cheer when the President issues an Executive order to dismiss all student loans.

A loyal HomaFiles reader linked me to a site that has an expansive list of dumb & dumber college courses.

Here are my dozen favorites … I saved the best for last.

Campus Culture and Drinking: As many students may have been sad to learn, this course doesn’t encourage students to go get trashed, instead asking them to more carefully consider the social and cultural aspects of drinking on campus. [Duke]

American Degenerates: Learn more about the relationship between writers and early Americans and their sense of personal identity in this course. [Brown]

Age of Piracy: Johnny Depp’s kooky but sexy Jack Sparrow has gotten many students interested in learning more about the pirating arts, and this course offers them the chance to take a look at the much less appealing, real-life lives of pirates. [Arizona State]

Alien Sex: Explore the weird, wild and depraved aspects of sex between humans and monsters alike. [University of Rochester]

Mail Order Brides? Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context: As off-putting as it sounds to most people, mail order brides are a real thing, and students at this prestigious university can learn why the phenomenon exists and is so prevalent in the Philippines through this course. [Johns Hopkins]

The Simpsons and Philosophy: While the Simpsons may appear to be just good entertainment, this course shows the deeper philosophical issues under all those “d’ohs.” [UC Berkeley]

Arguing with Judge Judy: Popular ‘Logic’ on TV Judge Shows: Ever felt like the plaintiffs on TV judge shows have some pretty questionable logic? This class addresses that subject directly, allowing students to pull apart courtroom excuses just like Judge Judy. [UC Berkeley]

How to Watch Television: Though most of us are pretty adept at turning on the TV and vegging out, this course aims to teach students how to watch TV actively. [Montclair]

Tightwaddery, or The Good Life on a Dollar a Day: While the title might elicit some laughs, this course offers some sage advice on breaking the bonds of consumerism and fighting back against the status quo. And if that isn’t part of a well-rounded college education then what is? [Alfred]

Getting Dressed: While many students wouldn’t have made it to college without some idea of how to get dressed in the morning, this class takes it one step further and takes a look at what it really means to wear those Uggs or backwards baseball cap. [Princeton]

Stupidity: What better topic to rail against at college than stupidity? This course examines it at depth from literary, social and philosophical perspectives. [Occidental]

American Pro Wrestling: While the words “MIT” and “pro wrestling” may not be two you’d bring together, this course asks students at the tech-savvy school to think about the cultural implications of the often-theatrical wrestling world. [MIT]

Given the uproar from the Occupiers and Campaigner-in-Chief, I got curious about the facts re: college tuitions.

According to the College Board. here’s what it really costs to attend college:

Public two-year colleges charge, on average, $2,713 per year in tuition and fees.

Public four-year colleges charge, on average, $7,605 per year in tuition and fees for in-state students.

Public four-year colleges charge, on average, $19,595 per year in tuition and fees for out-of-state students.

Private nonprofit four-year colleges charge, on average, $27,293 per year in tuition and fees.

The College Board adds: “Keep in mind that — due to grants and other forms of financial aid — the actual price the average undergraduate pays for a college education is considerably lower than the published tuition and fees.”

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For the record, Georgetown University charges undergrads $40,920 per year in tuition … and about $10,000 in room, board and miscellaneous charges … MBAs pay a couple of bucks short of $50,000 — just for tuition.